Former 7s star struggled to adjust to new style
Paris: Former New Zealand sevens international Ben Lam said he has found his feet at Bordeaux-Begles, aided by a growing taste for the signature French food speciality of foie gras.
Lam, 29, joined the French club in September after 16 World Series tournaments with New Zealand 7s and 33 tries in 56 Super Rugby matches for the Blues and the Hurricanes.
The winger has scored three times in five matches, but had to wait until his eighth appearance for his maiden effort.
“It took a bit of a while to settle in,” Lam told AFP last week.
“It’s always hard to adjust to a new style of play, new coach, new players. For a while I got stuck in some middle periods of the game and boys would be under pressure and start speaking French and I’d lose a few things in translation.
“I think it’s starting to click. I learn how the other guys play,
I adjust off them, it’s starting to go well,” he added.
Lam’s integration has been helped by a dinner club organised by
French players for some of the foreigners in the squad, including Tongan prop Ben Tameifuna and Argentinian lock Guido Petti.
The nephew of former Samoa captain Pat Lam features in a Bordeaux side alongside young France backs in centre Yoram Moefana, who has been ruled out for up to three months with an ankle injury, and fly-half Matthieu Jalibert.
Jalibert, 22, is likely to start for les Bleus in the Six Nations with Romain Ntamack sidelined with a broken jaw suffered in Toulouse’s win over Lam’s outfit last weekend.
“He’s good because he has an attacking mindset. For us he’s always wanting to play, it’s exciting for me. He’s always looking around,” Lam said ahead of this weekend’s home clash with Toulon.
“His style is really similar to how they play back home. He’s still young as well, he’s still learning.”